To Find Inner Strength
by HungrySano
Summary: An Evangelion and Street Fighter crossover. Shinji tries to obtain inner strength with the help of the vagrant who saved his life. However, his one desire may have put him and his friends in even greater danger.
1. The Vagrant in White

Neon Genesis Evangelion:

To Find Inner Strength…..

By: HungrySano

Chapter 1: The Vagrant in White

Then sun had already gone down, leaving Tokyo-3 in darkness once more until the next dawn. Despite the security technology that existed within this vast metropolis, it was still quite dangerous to travel at night. Of course, circumstances left a fourteen-year-old boy by the name of Shinji Ikari with no other alternative. After school ended, he proceeded to the music class room to practice on his cello. However, he lost himself while playing and quickly lost track of the time, as well. Luckily, then janitor noticed him before leaving, otherwise, Shinji would have been _very_ early for the next school day.

As luck would have it, this _had_ to be the day when he left his cell phone at home, so he couldn't call Misato for a ride and also, he didn't think of using the phone at school until he was a good ten blocks away from the school. Even the janitor was gone by now. It didn't help that he had to lug his school bag and his cello case home. The reason was that he had a recital in the morning and it would be too much trouble to go all the way to the school to retrieve his instrument. That would mean waking up even earlier than he had to. He couldn't have that.

Looking at his watch, Shinji saw thatit was going on nine-thirty and he still wasn't even halfway home. This sucked. It really, really sucked. Chanting those words over and over in his head while strolling along the sidewalk, he bumped into something. Something big and solid. Shinji's head was hung down and telling by the feet he saw, he gathered that he bumped into a person. More acurately, into said person's broad chest. He looked up slowly to see a man, glaring down at him with a sadistic looking smile and an evil glint in his dark brown eyes. Shinji gulped as he took a few steps back out of terror.

The man towered over Shinji, his broad and stocky appearance giving off the idea that he could snap the young Ikari boy in two with minimal effort. He wore black pants with chains freely swinging from then and black, worn boots the told that he either had them for a while or has busted many a skull with them, perhaps even both. His shirt was simply a black wife-beater with a white skull and crossbones printed on the front.With a smirk that easily shook the boy up, the man said, "You should really watch where ya goin', kid. If ya don't, bad things tend t' happen, 'know?"

Out of instinct, Shinji bowed quickly, spewing apologies like an out of control garden hose. However, the apologies did not satisfy the stocky power house before him. Without warning, Shinji felt himself being yanked from the ground by the collar of his shirt and raised into the air. Looking down at his assaulter, he saw that he was only using one arm to hold him up. The cold hearted grin he wore shook Shinji to the very core of his soul.

"Gimme all yer cash, or I give ya a full body 'make over'." The man chuckled menacingly upon completing his demand.

Shinji's eyes closed tightly. All he could think about was going home to Asuka and Misato. If Misato were with him, he would be protected. Someone….anyone. There was no way to run from this guy and Shinji had no money to give. The situation was grim indeed.

"I don't have any money…" Shinji said, his voice filled with fear.

"Wha?" The man glared in a perplexed manner, before returning to a evil, wide grin. "In that case, I'll just have to take it outta yer hide, boy! LITERALLY!"

Shinji cried out as the man carried him toward a dark alley. This was the most fearful moment that he had ever faced and he seriously doubted he would come out of this unharmed, or even alive. The third child, pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, was about to be ravaged and slain by some homoerotic street thug. These thoughts filled Shinji's mind, causing him to suffer through an onslaught of streaming tears. He pleaded to ignorant ears for mercy, but his only replies were evil snickers or occasional warnings to keep quiet.

"Put the boy down." Spoke a voice from behind.

The thug smirked without facing the source of the demand. "I suggest you mind yer own business. If not, you'll be my next target."

"I'll say this only once more. Put. Him. Down," the newcomer repeated.

The muscular thug carelessly dropped Shinji to the ground to face his opponent. Shinji's tears had slowed down to a halt when he realized what was happening. The new comer was dressed in a white karate gi with both sleeves torn off. He had a white headband that danced behind him in the soft blowing wind. His physique seemed to be in top form as he prepared himself into stance that showed he was indeed a martial artist.

The thug growled. "You're in my way!" He charged at the martial artist in question only to be side stepped and given a roundhouse kick to the back of his head. Holding his aching head, the thug turned to face his adversary once more and threw a barrage of punches. As Shinji watched, he literally saw the man's hands transform into a mass of blurs as he attacked his savior.

"_I know this technique!"_ Thought the headband wearing fighter. "You must be that rogue student that trained under Edmond, right!"

The thug growled. "Don't you EVER mention that name to me!" He cried out as he increased the speed of his rapid punches."

"Yah!" The man in white cried as he jumped over the thug's head and landed near Shinji. The young boy's eyes widened in amazement as he watched the gi donning fighter perform. It was like watching a martial arts movie.

He charged at the thug from behind, only giving him enough time to turn around and fully receive the next attack. Jumping up at him, the man in white delivered a series of devastating spinning kicks to the man's face and cried, "Tatsumaki Senpu Kyaku!"

The final kick sent the thug to the ground with a blood smeared face and missing teeth. Shinji could only stare in disbelief of what just occurred. It was hard to grasp that a person could be that strong, even after witnessing it. His savior approached him slowly and placed a hand on his shoulder, then knelt down beside him. "Hey, kid, are you okay?"

Shinji came to realization of how tall the guy was. He, like the thug, towered over Shinji as well. Speechless, his reply was a silent nod. Of course, his manners kicked in and he managed to say, "Um, th-thank you for saving me."

The man nodded back with a smile. "No problem, kid. Try to be more careful from now on. See you." He started to walk out of the alley.

"Um…hey!" Shinji cried.

The man turned his head slightly. "Hmm?"

"M-my name is Shinji Ikari. Could you tell me your name, please?" Shinji shuffled his feet nervously.

"Ryu," the man answered.

"Could you teach me how to fight?" Shinji asked hastily. He was actually surprised at himself for asking such a thing, especially from a total stranger. But, then again, this total stranger _did_ save his life.

Ryu then fully turned around. "I'm sorry, Shinji, but I can't do that. I'm not fit to teach. You'll have to find someone else."

Shinji lowered his head, his bangs hiding his eyes. "Please. I'm begging you, Mr. Ryu. I'm tired of being weak and cowardly. I'm tired of having to run away! You don't know how it feels to be weak like me. It's a horrible feeling when you know the smallest of things can hurt you and no matter what, you have to take it because you're not strong enough to do otherwise." _"Why am I spilling my guts like this? To a total stranger, even…"_

Ryu shook his head. "You're the one who's not understating, Shinji. True strength comes from within, not from the teachings of another. Only you can unlock such power."

Shinji slowly lifted his head, his eyes focusing on the man before him. "If that's true, then can't you at least show me the way? What good is inner strength if I don't know how to bring it out? Please. I don't want what happened tonight to even happen again. Thenext time, there might not be anyone to help me. I'll do anything you ask me to. I'm prepared."

Ryu simply turned his back on Shinji. He started to walk as Shinji hung his head down in defeat. Just like father. Turning his back and ignoring his plight like it didn't even matter.

"Meet me by the cherry blossom trees in Tokyo Park tomorrow. Bring a change of clothes." Ryu said as he disappeared into the night.

Shinji's eyes widened at Ryu's words. He couldn't help buy smile widely. Finally, he was going to learn how to take care of himself. Shinji was well on his way to becoming independent.


	2. Full of Surprises

Neon Genesis Evangelion:

To Find Inner Strength…..

By: HungrySano

Chapter 2:

Indeed, it was a long three months for Shinji. He felt that his wasn't learning as fast as he should have been. The training mostly consisted of katas, breathing exercises, pushups, sit ups, reflex exercises and jogging. Needless to say that Shinji was dead tired after each session. Little did Shinji know that the people around him were worried, but each person had their way of showing it. Misato's method was her normal motherly approach. Sitting him down and basically demanding an explanation. He did tell her most of the story. He mentioned that he took up an extracurricular activity outside of school. He just didn't mention that he was learning martial arts from a man who (as far as Shinji could tell) was homeless and walked around barefoot. Shinji decided that it would be best to leave out such details.

Ryu, on the other hand, believed that Shinji was doing moderately well. He noted that Shinji was the type to not notice his steady progress as he would always assume that Ryu's positive feedback was merely Ryu humoring and patronizing him. Although Shinji wasn't nearly as quick to pick up things as Ryu was at that age,he showed a decent amount of promise. Self esteem seemed to be an issue that Shinji struggled with and Ryu had hoped that the training would help alleviate some of the problem.

Another training session had come to an end. As usual, it ended with Shinji completely exhausted and Ryu's feedback on Shinji's progress. Shinji once again brushed off the positive feed back as empty patronage. Ryu frowned inwardly at this, as he always did, but shrugged it off as he walked the boy to his complex. The walk back was quiet aside from random chatter, however when they finally arrived at Shinji's building, Ryu decided to ask for Shinji's true opinion for once.

"So," said Ryu, "how do you think you did, Shinji?"

Shinji sighed. "Well, I think that I didn't do much better than before. Maybe I'm immune to physical training or something. Maybe I can't get any stronger."

"Be patient," Ryu said sternly, "there is no such thing as instant progress. If there was, then everyone in the world would be successful. Don't you think?"

Shinji scratched his head, pondering the statement. "Well, I suppose that's a good point. It's just I constantly find myself wondering whether or not I really have what it takes."

Ryu nodded. "You have what it takes, Shinji. You just need to rely on yourself more. When the time comes, you'll see what I mean."

"You sound like an old monk from a Kung-Fu movie," Shinji said with a slight smirk.

Ryu chuckled. "I guess that _was_ kind of clichéd, but it's true. I can't make you any stronger; I can only show you the way. One you reach your goal, Shinji, you'll see that your progress was due to your own will and strength."

Shinji, still a bit confused nodded. "Um, okay."

Ryu then said, "There's one thing I want you to think about afterwe part ways, Shinji."

"What's that?" Shinji asked.

"Ask yourself," said Ryu, "'Why do I want to become strong?'"

The warm evening wind picked up as they silently look each other's way. Shinji's eyes lit up as he nodded. "Okay. So, we'll meet again tomorrow, master?"

Ryu smiled. "Consider tomorrow a day off. You've earned it. Also, you can use that free time to think about that question."

"I understand," Shinji said.

"One more thing," said Ryu as he reached into his pocket. From that pocket he pulled out a red headband. "Here, this is the headband I wore when I trained at your age. It was a gift from a friend which served as a sort of motivator. To me, it's a symbol that tells me to never give up and to never be afraid to step forward. If you accept this, it'll be your promise to me that you'll never take a step back and always keep going."

Shinji looked at the headband in Ryu's hand. He was hesitant and intimidated by the deep meaning of such a simple accessory. _"If I accept this gift from Ryu…it means that I can never run away again. But when something's painful, it's only natural to want to escape. But…I mustn't run away. Misato said so. I know she's right, but I…I…."_

"I'm sorry, Ryu," Shinji said as he turned away sadly, "I can't accept this. I can do it."

Ryu replaced the item back into his pocket. "It's okay, Shinji. Perhaps it's too early to expect you to accept such a thing. I apologize for my overestimation."

"It's fine. It's all my fault anyway. See you." Shinji then walked away without another word.

Ryu watched him walk into the building with concern in his eyes. _"Even though he has improved physically, his mind refuses to grow. In his mind, he is still that same timid Shinji that I saved that night."_ He sighed heavily before walking off to find a place to sleep for the night.

"Wasn't he supposed to make dinner tonight?" Asuka asked irately.

"Yes," Misato said in a tone to match Asuka's.

Things had been going like this for the past three months. Whenever it was Shinji's turn to cook, which was almost every day, he would always show up late. Misato was aware the Shinji had an extracurricular activity after school, but the main problem was that he would always come home later than he said he would. She and Asuka simply sat at the table, brooding at the fact that their designated chef, Shinji, wasn't home and it was close to eight 'o clock.

Moments later, the sound of the front door opening could be heard, followed by light footsteps. Shinji was home and had no idea what perils awaited him until he saw Misato's and Asuka's faces. He gulped at the looks they were giving him as on thing was certain: Shinji was doomed, in the most extreme sense of the word.

"And why exactly are you coming home this late?" Misato asked in a deadly calm tone. Shinji knew that this situation wouldn't end very well.

"My instructor…uh…he had me stay a bit longer to go over a few things," Shinji nervously replied.

Asuka folded her arms and grimaced. "Easy, Ikari. I can smell the bull from way over here."

Misato sighed. "Shinji, it's about time we talked about this. Listen, I know you have a life of your own and I'm glad you do, but please take our feelings into consideration. Asuka and I have been very worried about you coming home this late every day."

"Speak for yourself," said Asuka as she rolled her eyes with irritation, "I just would like to know whether or now someone is cooking dinner. Just like a man to be so inconsiderate."

"Asuka, please." Misato said, not losing her calm tone. "Look, Shinji, my point is that you have to call if you're going to be late. I gave you that cell phone for a reason. From now on, you are to be home by seven on school nights, is that understood?"

"Yes," Shinji replied dryly. "I'll go make dinner now."

"No, don't worry, I will." Misato sighed as she stood up to head for the kitchen.

"WAIT!" Both children stood to their feet.

Misato raised an eyebrow. "Hey, what's the matter?"

Shinji smiled nervously, "Um, well, Asuka..ugh!" Shinji was elbowed in the ribs by the redhead. "Uh, _we_ won't hear of it. We'll make dinner, so you can relax!"

Misato asked, "Are you sure? I can whip up a meal for us all in five minutes."

"No, no," said Asuka, "Think of it as a reward for your hospitality." _"And avoidance of any **fa**talities…"_

"You two are sweet. The fact that you're getting along is somewhat creepy, but if I don't have to cook, then it's fine." Misato smiled as she cracked open a can of Kirin beer.

The two EVA pilots sank into the kitchen, shooting sour glares at each other.

"Why did you have to drag _me_ into this? It's _your_ turn to cook!" Asuka growled.

Shinji sighed. "In any case, it's too late to complain now. Besides, if you were so hungry, why didn't you just cook something?"

"Because," Asuka said bitterly, "It's **not my turn.**"

Shinji sighed again. "Well, anyway, let's get started. What should we make?"

Asuka shook her head. "It's your turn to cook, so you decided for yourself." She folded her arms and frowned.

Shinji frowned as well. "Why don't we just order out and call it even? This is getting us nowhere."

"Agreed," Asuka smirked, "but you're paying Ikari. Let's order sushi."

"I don't have that kind of money!" Shinji cried. "Do I **_look_** like TM Revolution?"

"Good point." Asuka nodded to herself. "You're far from looking **that** sexy. But you're still buying dinner.

"You just enjoy insulting me, don't you?" Shinji looked at her sourly.

"It was just a joke. Geez, you're sensitive." Asuka rolled her eyes. "Look, I'll pay for half, but you'll owe me a big favor, which I will ask you in the future."

It was Shinji's turn to roll his eyes, "Sure thing, Don Soryu…"

"Say something?" Asuka narrowed her eyes at Shinji.

"Nope." Shinji smiled.

Meanwhile, Ryu walked the streets of Tokyo-3. He pondered upon the past and everything that lead up to what he was currently doing. He had lived through the horror of second impact and supposedly lost his best friend. He had no proof the Ken had died, but the fact that he found no clues asto his whereabouts made him worry. The only reason he hadstopped to train the young boy was that if Ken was indeed alive, he'd be fine by himself for a while. He may have been a rich playboy, but he was no pushover, either. Ryu wouldn't give up his search, but if he stayed stationary for a little longer, perhaps a clue would breeze by. A gut feeling told him that his answers would come to him in Toyko-3.

As he wondered down the vacant street, he remembered the day the world 'ended'. He witnessed the faces of the people around him melting down into a disgusting sea of red as they screamed in vain for mercy. All he could do was run until he found a safe place to hide. When it was all over, he saw nothing but chaos and sufferingin the wake of Second Impact. The ocean that had been so clear and blue had become crimson and thick. The ground he stood on was littered with the charred, or in some cases, liquifiedbodies of innocent Indian families. He searched for Dhalsim, the monk he and Ken met on their journey together when they were seventeen. He was nowhere to be found.

Traveling the world became even harder for Ryu. It took so much to get back to Japan due to the destruction that the Second Impact caused. He remembered the long wait for civilization to recover from the near end of the world. In his spare time, he helped the people he found alive to a safer place, a modern shelter that were still operating after the second impact took place. It was located underground and was kept a secret. It occurred to Ryu that whoever built that placepredicted the Second Impact somehow. He had to find out how.

"After all this time, I'd think you would at least wear something new," a women said from behind Ryu, breaking him out of his flashback.

Ryu slowly turned around to see a womanl, who looked like she was in her late twenties. She wore a uniform that seemed to be military and her hair was brown and long. Her eyes were a light brown, but the one thing that seemed to stand out to Ryu the most was the smile on her face. A pleasantly warm smile.

Ryu's memory seemed to slowly put the puzzle tighter before he finally asked, "Chun Li?"

Chun Li chuckled. "So, you do remember. Good to know your memory's still intact after the so called end of the world. So, what are you doing out here so late?"

Ryu replied blankly, "Just going to find a place to sleep for the night."

Chun Li asked, "Do you need a place to stay for a while? I have a two bedroom apartment and you're more than welcome to stay if you want."

Ryu immediately replied, "No, no. That's okay. I'm okay with sleeping on a ben- er, at a hotel, Chun Li. It's a part of my training." Ryu knew that if he admitted that he was going to sleep outside, she would insist. Ryu just didn't believe in living with a woman unless she was his wife. It wasn't a matter of morale, but Ken's stories about situations like that made him overly cautious. Too bad for him that Chun Li didn't buy his story.

"I insist," she said politely, "besides, it will be no trouble at all, Ryu. It'll give us a chance to catch up." She smiled while patting his shoulder.

"…_then she'll smile while patting your shoulder to seal the deal! I'm telling you, dude, once you agree, kiss your life of freedom goodbye! Ryu, if a woman lets you stay at her place for free, she basically OWNS you! I'm saying this for you own good, man. Don't fall for it!"_

After remembering those words that Ken said to him, Ryu found himself walking with Chun Li to her apartment. Sometimes his body did things without consulting him first. Of course, this was the first time it happened without hunger being the one to blame. It was a ten minute walk to her apartment and on the way she explained that she was going home from her new job for a government organization. She worked from the internal affairs department as a chief of investigations. However, she was still under the umbrella of Interpol while doing so.

When they arrived at her apartment, she also talked about some of the employees. One of whom she believed was a hardcore alcoholic, due to her co-worker chewing her out about going to bars at night when she has to be at work the next day. The one chewing her out was a blonde scientist who seemed almost robotic at times. Then there was the commander who was like a colder version of her own father.

As they stepped inside, Chun Li showed Ryu to the room he would be sleeping in. To Ryu, any room was a good room to sleep in. It was decently sized and felt cozy. He wasn't a hard man to please at all. Chun Li also took the liberty of cooking dinner, which the wander street fighter showed his appreciation for by mercilessly devouring every morsel he was given. Afterward, they watch the news together while Ryu explained what he had been doing until recently, which didn't require too much explanation. Soon, they both turned in for the night.

As Ryu stared at the ceiling from his futon, he pondered about Ken. Was his best friend really killed in the second impact? Ryu refused to believe it. Not without any proof, at least. Wondering about Ken reminded him of something that he had pushed to the back of his mind earlier.

"_Ryu, if a woman lets you stay at her place for free, she basically OWNS you!"_

Ryu shuddered at the thought. He decided to get up and check on her. Perhaps Ken was right and she was planning on making him do all the chores or force him into some kind of in-house labor contract. Ryu knew how ridiculous it sounded, but he still had a naïve side that Ken could easily get to. He arrived at Chun Li's door and slowly slide the door open, just enough for him to see inside. There, he discovered Chun Li sleeping peacefully under the sheets with a smile on her face. She seemed to be muttering something in her sleep, but Ryu couldn't hear it clearly. He smiled softly and silently shut the door before returning to his room.

If he could have heard her clearly, he would have heard these words: "Thank God thatRyu's still alive."

Meanwhile, back at Misato's apartment, Misato had already returned to her room for the night as Shinji and Asuka sat in the living room with the televsion off. Asuka read a magazine as Shinji mashed buttons on a PSP4, with the sound muted.

"Ikari." Asuka called to him without lifting her eyes away from her magazine.

Shinji puased his game and turned toward the redhead. "Yes?"

"What kind of club did you join?" Her voice seemed to ooze with innocent curiocity, which made Shinji a bit suspicious.

Shinji tried his best to sound unshaken by Asuka's sudden interest, but it was obvious that he was a bit timid about talking about it. "Um, martial arts. It's no big deal, really."

"Hmm." Asuka fell into silence as she flipped to the next page of her magazine. "I see. Learn anything interesting?"

Shinji shook his head. "Not really, just some katas and breathing exercises."

Asuka closed her magazine and placed it onto the floor, finally looking Shinji's way. "Well, then. Let's see it."

"Huh?" Shinji was caught off guard by her sudden request. "What?"

Asuka smirked. "Your katas, let me see them. You've been practicing martial arts for the past couple of months, right?"

Shinji protested, "Well, yeah, but I'm not very good. I'm still just getting the hang of it."

Asuka replied simply, "Just think of it as practice. Just pretend I'm not here and do your thing, Shinji."

Shinji gulped. He was embarrased to perform his katas in front of Asuka or anyone else who's name wasn't Ryu. He sighed as he stood up, finally giving in to Asuka's will. _"This is so embarassing."_

He stanced himself before the second child, breathing slowly and taking his time.Shinji's movements were more graceful than Asuka expected, but far from perfect. It was enough to empress the girl, but at the time, she would never actually admit it. As the boy continued his katas, something in his stomach seemed to swell with pain. Just then, he fell over, hugging his stomach with his arms.

"Shinji!" Asuka cried. "Stop playing aro.." She saw the look on his face and saw that this was no childish prank. "MISATO!"

Quick Author's Note: Just to let you know, I'm going by the Street Fighter II V anime storyline. Just to clear that up for the SF fans. Also, I'm sorry for taking so long to bring out this chapter. This story is quite a challenge for me. Bare with me, I plan to see it through to the end.


	3. The Unknown Force

Neon Genesis Evangelion

To Find Inner Strength

Chapter 3: The Unknown Force

Shinji's eyes opened to see nothing but blurred whiteness. He then closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, and then repeated the process until his vision finally cleared up. Shinji was once again in a hospital bed. He was actually relieved that piloting Unit 01 wasn't the cause. It was too stressful. However, most of his relief disintegrated the very moment he recalled the events prior to him passing out.

He recollected having the world's most brutal stomachache before hitting ground, just as he was reluctantly performing his katas before Asuka. He remembered having a weird feeling in his stomach whenever he performed them with Ryu, but he would always ignore it. It was quite unusual for a harmlessly strange feeling to explode into what felt like a ball of agony swelling in his gut, threatening to explode within him. Shinji finally decided that it must have been the food he ate. Sure, Asuka and Misato ate the same thing, but perhaps he was allergic to the sushi.

"_That makes no sense. I've never been allergic to sushi!"_ Shinji frowned. It was too much trouble to sort out exactly what the cause may have been, so Shinji simply decided to drop the subject as it was leading nowhere much faster than he liked. He sighed as he sat up and looked toward the window to see the sun glaring against the closed curtains. He had been unconscious the entire night.

Slowly, the door to his hospital room opened. As he turned toward it, Kensuke and Touji entered, flashing suspicious looking grins. Shinji had a feeling that this was going to be a troublesome conversation.

"Hey, Shinji,' said Touji, "how ya holdin' up?"

Shinji smiled a little before replying, "I'm all right now. It was just a stomachache, nothing serious."

Kensuke smirked. "So, do you always get rushed to the hospital for a minor tummy ache?"

Touji leaned over toward Shinji's face along with Kensuke. "We know your secret, Shinji. Asuka told us about it this morning."

Kensuke grinned. "Yeah, Ikari, you might as well just confess! We know you're learning martial arts!"

Touji followed up. "Yeah! When exactly were you gonna tell us, Shinji? How could you leave out your own friends? Did it ever occur to you that maybe we wanna learn some Kung-Fu, too?"

"Actually, it's Shotakhan," Shinji bluntly corrected.

Kensuke narrowed his eyes. "You still should've told us. Besides, martial arts would be the perfect thing to add to my war tactics! Imagine being on the battle field with no ammo left and nothing but your hands and feet to defend yourself with. And you're surrounded by enemies with hunting knives ready to slice your belly open and all of the sudden, BOOM! A spinning round kick to the face and then the fists and feet of fury fly all over the place, leaving nothing be unconscious enemies lying about!"

Touji and Shinji both stared at their four-eyed friend with confused expressions written all over their faces.

"Riiiiiiight." Touji rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Shinji, Asuka says that you were doing some katas and suddenly passed out. She also said that the doctors said there were no signs of anything wrong at all. Medically, you're in perfect health. So, what exactly has been going on? What kind of training are you doing? Really."

Shinji sighed. He knew this conversation would be troublesome. The truth was that he had no clue what was going on himself. Perhaps Ryu could give him some clues. Of course, that would have to wait since he would not see his master that day. "Well, I really don't know. It's probably nothing. I feel perfectly fine now."

Suddenly the fast patting of footsteps could be heard, echoing in the hallway. The footsteps seemed to increase in speed and volume by the second until Misato came barging into the room. "SHINJI! I came as soon as I heard you were awake!"

"Whoa." Kensuke and Touji uttered as they stared blankly at the out of breath form of the woman of their not-so-innocent dreams.

Shinji smiled. "Good morning, Misa.."

Misato rushed to his hospital bed and wrapped her arms around the boy, making him blush from the embarrassment of his friend watching. Said friends watch the burst of emotion with depressing jealousy.

"I wish a beautiful woman would jump onto _me_ like that," uttered Touji.

"Guess, only in our dreams, man," Kensuke uttered back.

The both shared a sigh of despair.

"Shinji, thank God you're okay! You had me so worried. How are you feeling?" Misato fussed over him as she released her bear hug to look him in the eye.

"I feel fine, Misato." Shinji reassured her with a smile. "I'm sorry that I worried you. Everything is okay." He turned toward his two buddies. "Right, guys?"

As Misato turned their way, they both blushed with the goofiest grins every seen in Tokyo-3 and nodded rapidly. Misato smiled back at him sweetly, which made them blush even harder while they widened their grins.

Misato turned back to Shinji. "Okay then. Since they couldn't find anything, you're being released, but I wanted to be sure that you were going to be all right. And, hey! You didn't even have to miss any school! Isn't that great?"

Shinji frowned and deadpanned. "Yeah. It's my lucky day."

Misato ignored the blatant sarcasm. "Well, remember that you have another sync test this afternoon at four. Don't be late! I have to get to work now. Bye!" Misato waved as she left as fast as she came.

Shinji sighed. _"Man, I'm glad that's over. That's typical Misato for you."_

Touji and Kensuke maintained their goofy smiles while waving at the empty doorway.

"Bye, Miss Misato," said Touji in a dreamy tone.

"See you later," Kensuke said in the same tone as his athletic friend.

Shinji frowned again. _"I wonder if they even care that she's a total slob."_

Later on, at school, the day seemed to be pretty normal for the most part, but for Shinji, things seemed to seem very off. The first thing was that his stomach had that funny feeling which made him anticipate it to explode into an orb of pain again. However, it didn't occur, thankfully. _"Something like this would happen on the day I'm not meeting Master Ryu, wouldn't it?"_

His only option was to ask Ryu, since the common connection to this problem was his training. At first, the feeling only came when he performed katas, but now it was beginning to bother him during his normal activities. It seemed that it wasn't a medical problem at all. The doctors couldn't find anything that would cause him any symptoms. As he sat in that classroom and pondered about his situation, he failed to notice that school was finally over.

"Hey, Shinji. Are you ready to go now?"

Shinji blinked twice, falling out of his state of deep thought to see Asuka smiling sweetly at him. Something was terribly wrong here. Usually it would be a demand for him to get his butt in gear, followed by her calling him an idiot. She was being nice to him. It was a nice changed, but for it to be so sudden, it scared the crap out of him. He decided to do the wise thing and not question her kindness. After all, with Asuka, that would make her angry enough to revert back to her angry self.

"Yes." Shinji replied with a smile as he stood to his feet.

They arrived outside the school where Rei waited for them. The blue haired pilot greeted them in her usual polite, yet blank way. After exchanging greetings and her questioning of Shinji's health, the trio was off to the NERV building for their sync ratio tests. Shinji was, as always, nervous about the test. It wasn't a secret that at least a part of him was uncomfortable piloting the Eva, but it was his way to respond accurately to the demands of others.

For Asuka, the test was long, boring and easy. Mainly because she knew in her heart that she was the best at everything she does, especially piloting Eva Unit 02. As the test went on, she couldn't help but smile. No matter what would happen, she knew she would be on top, if even by a little. She saw Rei as a greater rival than Shinji when it came to piloting. Not that Shinji was pathetic, but just the fact that he was hesitant and timid most of the time. Then again, he had changed slightly. Shinji was still Shinji, but he seemed to be a little more adapted to life. Perhaps that training did him some good. Either way, Asuka was still the best. No one would beat her sync test score.

"Amazing." Ritsuko said as she looked at a monitor full of text and then quickly jotted down some data onto her clipboard.

"What's up, Ritsuko?" Misato asked as she turned toward the doctor with a quizzical look on her face.

"It's Shinji. His sync ratio has jumped up by a full seven percent." She pointed at the screen that showed all three pilots. "You said that he just got out of the hospital this morning? It seems like he made a full recovery and then some. Perhaps something happened to him that made him happy and confident. A girlfriend, perhaps?"

Misato shook her head. "Well, that's a possibility, but actually, Shinji's been learning karate for the last three months. He hasn't changed much, but he seems slightly carefree these days."

"Ah." Ritsuko nodded. "I see. That would probably explain it. However, Asuka seems to still have the highest ratio among the three. Shinji's is catching up to Rei, which I think is pretty amazing."

Misato smiled. "I bet Shinji will be happy with the good news."

Meanwhile, back in Chun Li's apartment, Ryu sat in the middle of the living room floor with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. A faint blue light outlined his body as he did so. The Hadou energy within him flowed smoothly through him as his mind began to show him images. He searched for a connection, but found none. He learned on his last adventure with Ken that the power of Hadou gave them a link to each other's mind. This was how he would find him, but so far he hadn't found anything. He detected that a strong user of Hadou was about, but he couldn't see through to their mind clearly enough. It was as if something was interfering. A cloud of closed emotions seemed to block his mental view. Before his concentration was broken, he could have sworn someone had called his name.

"Ryu?" Chun Li stepped into the room, dressed in casual slacks and a blue sleeveless blouse. She smiled brightly at the homeless martial artist.

Ryu smiled back. "Hey, Chun Li. You going out?"

She smirked. "No, Ryu. WE'RE going out. If you're going to stay here, you're going to have to at least wear some different clothes. No to mention find you some SHOES."

"…_.she basically OWNS you!"_

Ryu shook away that random thought. He then stood up, defeated. Chun Li wouldn't back down and she would end up convincing him somehow. He supposed just going without a fuss would be much easier on him. "I hate shopping," he muttered under his breath.

Chun Li tugged him along by his arm. "C'mon, it'll be just like the old days. Remember when we were teenagers? How the three of us went shopping. That was so much fun. I only wish Ken were here, too."

Ryu chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure if he were, he'd still be spending like a madman and refusing to let us pay for anything."

"Ryu…do you think Ken..?" Chun Li's voice became full of worry.

"Nah. He's much tough than that. I'm sure he's out there somewhere, probably trying to find out where we are. He's fine." _"At least, that's what I'm hoping for."_

Chun Li pepped up again and hugged around Ryu's arm. "Well, come on. It's shopping time! When I'm done, you'll barely recognize yourself!" She chuckled lightly.

Ryu smiled politely, hiding his reluctance. _"That's exactly what I'm afraid of…"_

It was much like their visit to Hong Kong, where he and Ken first met Chun Li and Fei Long. The only difference was that he was actually being forced to shop. Of course, like the last time, Ryu had the exact same sentiment about the entire idea.

"Shopping sucks," Ryu muttered quietly.

Chun Li pouted as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, come on. Don't be like that. I promise that when it's all said and done, you'll look and feel like a brand new man. It's not like I'm asking you to dodge bullets here.

Ryu sighed. "Couldn't you ask me to do that instead of shopping?"

Chun Li tugged him along, by his arm, out of the apartment. "Stop being such a baby, Ryu. You're a grown man, for crying out loud!"

"…_she OWNS you…..OWNS you…..OWNS you!"_

As the street fighting duo walked around the shipping district of Tokyo-3, people seemed to give Ryu strange looks. It was understandable because not many people went out in a raggedy looking karate gi without any shoes. It just wasn't fashionable in the twenty-first century. It seemed that the stares were growing harder and Chun Li took notice as he homeless companion seemed completely oblivious, or just didn't care. Either way she could feel the embarrassment increasing until she finally decided to do something about it.

"There!" Chun Li cried at as she pointed to a clothing store. Without any other warning she yanked Ryu's arm and took off into the store before the leering outside got any worse.

"ACK!" Ryu cried as he felt himself get jerked by his arm into a random direction. The next thing he knew was he was standing in a men's casual clothing store. Chun Li stood before him with an innocent smile as if she didn't just run at mach 5 speed and drag him along like her name was Eiko Magami.

Ryu asked sharply, "What was that all about?"

Chun Li, brushing off Ryu's irritation picked up a white button-down shirt from one of the racks. "I think this would look good on you. Care to try it on?"

Ryu sighed. "Do I really have to?"

Chun Li stated bluntly. "There's always choices, Ryu. Skipping out on shopping with me today just isn't one of them." She grinned brightly as she handed him the shirt. "Here you go!"

Ryu reluctantly took the shirt and headed from the dressing room, wishing for a way out of this mess. As he walked toward the dressing room, he noticed a tall, thin man come up to Chun Li and start a conversation. She looked slightly irritated. He had brown hair with a ponytail, stubble on his chin, and his mannerisms seemed like that of a playboy. Ryu would know since his best friend happened to be one. He shrugged and stepped into the dressing room. If he tried anything on Chun Li, Ryu was sure he would end up having to save **him**.

Meanwhile, Chun Li frowned at the man before her. "Kaji, I suggest you learn to separate work and personal affairs."

Kaji smiled. "But I am. We're nowhere near the office and you look lonely. Besides, I just want to get to know you, as you are new to our department."

Chun Li smiled as well. "Oh, is that all? You just want to become familiar with me?"

Kaji nodded. "Yes, that's all."

Chun Li frowned. "Like you are with Major Katsuargi?"

Kaji's eyes grew wide, but he regained his composure, flashing his smile again. "No, no. I don't know what you've heard, but.."

"Listen. I don't mind getting acquainted, as we are coworkers, but I suggest you not try to make it more than that. Ms. Akagi has told me many stories. Anyway, I'm out with an old friend right now, so we will have to hold off on meeting outside of work until another time." Chun Li smiled again. "Have a nice day." She then walked over to the dressing room.

Kaji sighed. "Now that was just cold."

Ryu has finished buttoning up his shirt. He didn't even try to button the top because it seemed that he would be the first street fighter to be choked to death by a shirt if he did. As he took a look in the mirror, he sighed. He didn't like it at all. Ryu was more of a T-shirt and jeans guy, he disliked anything formal. Besides, it was something that Ken would more likely wear.

Just then, there was a knock on the dressing room door.

"Ryu?" Chun Li's voice chimed from the other side of the door. "Is everything all right in there? Do you need my help?"

Ryu's face turned a bashful red. "Uh, everything's fine! I'm coming out…." He opened the dressing room door only to be met by Chun Li's staring eyes. At first, her expression was indifferent, but it slowly turned to astonishment. Seconds later, the astonishment turned into spacey gawking.

Chun Li's mind drifted away as she looked at Ryu in the white shirt she picked out for him. It fit him just right, hugging his muscles snugly, but not too tightly. She had turned the rugged street fighter into eye candy. Of course, something would have to be done about those white karate gi pants.

"Uh, Chun Li?" Ryu raised an eyebrow as he spoke. "Are you okay?"

Chun Li shook off her daze. "Wow. Um, yeah! That shirt looks very nice on you, Ryu. Now, we have to find you some pants and some nice shoes." She smiled sweetly at him as she tugged his arm, leading him to the pants section of the store. "C'mon, you stud muffin, you."

As Ryu was dragged along by Chun Li, his face became red again. Of course, his expression was that of oblivious confusion.

"_...stud muffin?"_

Meanwhile, at Misato's apartment, Asuka chuckled at Shinji. "You scared?"

Shinji shook his head. "No way! It's just…"

Asuka smirked. "Never kissed a girl before, huh? That's pretty funny."

Shinji sighed and fell onto the couch. "What's the point in even doing this? It's not like we're a couple and if Misato were to come in at the wrong moment, she'd get the wrong idea. It's just troublesome."

"Well, if you're going to spout excuses, then never mind. You're probably too much of a wimp to do it, but just don't want to admit it." Asuka turned away. "So boring."

Something inside Shinji clicked at that moment. 'W-wait a second! I'm not afraid!"

Asuka smirked. _"Gotcha."_ "Then, prove it."

Shinji stood to his feet. "Fine, I will!" _"Shinji, what the HELL are you doing? Don't do it, what if Misato comes in! This'll be my first kiss…not like I don't WANT to but…but.."_

Asuka frowned. "Will you stop shuffling your feet? Don't stall, Shinji!"

As Shinji stepped closer to his target, his heart beat faster by the second. It was unthinkable that he would share his first kiss with Asuka, mainly because she was the most difficult to get along with. Rei, maybe, but this just seemed….strange. By the time these thoughts were pushed aside, he found himself only inches from Asuka's face. She had her eyes closed, waiting patiently for his lips. She looked beautiful, Shinji thought.

Asuka kept her eyes closed; waiting for the moment that Shinji's lips would touch hers. She wanted to kiss him and came up with a decent excuse to do it: boredom. Granted she was anything but bored, but she wanted to test Shinji's courage around girls. She did have an interest in him, after all, but this would be the test to see how far she could get with him. She grew impatient until she finally got a reaction out of Shinji.

"I'm sorry." Shinji said. "I'm really not up to this Asuka."

Asuka's eye went wide after hearing that. Her face became the very color of the mecha she piloted, as did a portion of Shinji's face after she slapped the living crud out of it. "You idiot!" She growled as she stormed back to her room, slamming the door behind her.

The dumbfounded Shinji stood there for a couple minutes before Misato arrived. It only took her a moment to realize what was going on. She could see that Asuka was locked in her room again and Shinji standing in the middle of the living room with a red handprint on the side of his face.

Misato groaned. "Can't you two get along for at least ONE day? Geez."

Meanwhile at an underground base somewhere in the ruins of Cambodia, A thin man with think glasses watches a grid screen and noticed two blips glowing blue. He smiled sinisterly and said, "Found you at last."

"What is it, Zoltar?" A deep voice booms from the darkness behind the man. Within the darkness, a massive silhouette sits in a chair. The only clear feature about him was his narrowed white eyes.

"Master Bison. We have completed the Psycho Grid Radar system, as you have requested. It seems that users of the Hadou energy have been found in the Japan area. One is located somewhere outside of Tokyo-3 and on the move. The other one is already within Tokyo-3 and seems to be stationary in that area. I've already seen Killer Bee to intercept the moving target," Zoltar stated.

"Excellent. I have no doubts that their skills in the use of Hadou have increased over the past few years. I should have known that the Second Impact would not take them so easily. However, it did rid me of many other nuisances. Like some of the top agents of Interpol." Bison grinned evilly. "Contact SEELE. Have them keep an eye out for the second target within Tokyo-3."

"Yes, sir." Zoltar bowed.

In a white hummer stretched limousine, Ken and his wife, Eliza were headed for Tokyo-3.

"So, you're donating money to help fund a heart association?" Eliza gave Ken a puzzled look.

Ken shook his head. "No, no. It's nothing like that. It's the NERV organization. They're the ones who have been fighting off all those giant angels with their robots."

Eliza shook her head, "How can those big, ugly, destructive things be ANGELS? That's a mystery within itself."

Ken shrugged. "I dunno, but a friend of mine who works there asked me to do this as a favor. I met him on a business trip and we ended up being pals. We're a lot alike, surprisingly."

Eliza chuckled, "That can't be a good thing."

"….Hey!" Ken pouted playfully. "You sure know how to hurt a guy, don'cha?"

Eliza winked at him, "I also know how to make a guy feel all better again."

Just before the couple could get into anything, the car came to a screeching halt, causing them to both jerk forward, out of their seats.

Ken cried out, "What the hell what THAT?" He had a very bad feeling about this. Just as he pondered what could possibly be going wrong, a fist smashed through the tinted glass and unlocked the door from the inside. The door was then shoved open as a blonde woman with long hair and a green uniform stuck her head inside.

Ken's eyes widened at the sight of her. No because she just forced her way into the vehicle, but because the whites of her eyes were bloodshot pink and the pits of her eyes were burning crimson. On her forehead was a familiar looking chip. Bison's cyber chip used for mind control.

"Ken Masters," said the woman in a robotic tone, "You will come with us."

Ken's eyes narrowed. "Like hell, I will!"

Without taking her eyes off of Ken, the woman reached and grabbed Eliza by the throat, causing the love of his life to gag helplessly under her cobra-like grip.

Ken cried out, "Let her go, you mind slave bitch!"

"Then, come," the woman repeated again with no emotion, as before.

"Okay, okay! Just put her down!" Ken shouted. He then sighed with relief when Eliza was freed from the unknown woman's mighty grip. He and Eliza stepped out of the other side of the limo to see the driver lying on the ground helplessly by more women, dressed like the blonde, but their uniforms were a dark blue. Ken cursed under his breath. "Ginji, are you okay?"

The driver waved his arm and said weakly, "I'll live, Mr. Masters."

Ken looked to the woman in green. "I want you to let them go before you take me anywhere." Ken knew that the only way out of this was to fight, but he couldn't risk putting anyone else in danger.

The woman nodded. "As you wish." She then ordered the other women to help up the driver and get him and Eliza back into the car. Soon, they drove off, but only after he and Eliza shared a kiss, followed by her making him promise to come back in one piece.

After the car drove of into the distance, the blonde in the green uniform then said, "Our master grows impatient, Mr. Masters. Come with us now."

Ken smirked. "Sure, under one condition."

"Condition?" The blank look on her face turned quizzical.

Ken smiled, "The condition is….this!" He leapt through the air right into two of the android women with a drop kick. With a loud crash they hit the ground and tumbled along it violently. Without pause, Masters spun around and attacked the leader with his Rising Dragon Punch.

"SHO-RYU-KEN!" Ken shouted as he took to the air while connecting his signature uppercut into the blonde woman's chin. She fell back from the blow, but recovered in mid air and landed gracefully onto her feet.

She narrowed her eyes at her attacker. "This could have been avoided with your cooperation, Ken Masters."

Ken frowned. "This could have been avoided if you were smart enough not to get on my bad side. As much as I hate hitting girls, you really asked for it, sister! Get ready!" A golden glow surrounded his body as Cammy watched and nodded.

"So, this is the power of Hadou. Let's see if you can defend against Psycho Power at your level." Her own body began to glow with a familiar light.

"Psycho Power!" Ken gritted his teeth. "But Bison….Ryu and I.."

"…are destined to join him." Cammy finished grimly.

At that moment, Ken was engulfed by a familiar looking light from Cammy's palm. Afterward, everything went white.

A chill ran up Ryu's spine, freezing him in place for a couple seconds. Chun Li was latched onto his arm and didn't take long to notice Ryu's sudden pause. His eyes appeared to be widened with shock for a split second. "Something's wrong," he muttered.

"Ryu, are you all right?" Chun Li gave him a puzzled expression.

Ryu nodded and turned back to her with a relieving smile. "Yeah, it's nothing. I was just daydreaming."

Now, Ryu made two mistakes. The first was lying to his friend who was good at reading others. The second was lying to a woman who happened to be an agent of Interpol who could spot a lie from kilometers away.

Chun Li sighed, "If you're going to make something up, Ryu, you could at least try to put more effort into it. Anyway, if you want to keep it to yourself, I can respect that."

Ryu replied softly, "Thank you, Chun Li." _"I have a really bad feeling…"_

_To Be Continued_


	4. The Road to Self Destruction

Neon Genesis Evangelion

To Find Inner Strength

_A/N: First of all, I want to apologize to you all for the previous draft of the fourth chapter. I uploaded the unfinished chapter 5 by accident instead of the completed chapter four. Again, a thousand apologies. Please enjoy the REAL chapter four._

Part IV: The Road to Self Destruction

Finally, the results came in. She smirked cockily. There was no doubt that she would be number one. Her opponents were pathetic. One was a passive wimp and the other was the equivalent of a doll. There was no way she could ever loose to them. She was the smartest and the most talented, after all.

"Congratulations, Shinji! You're number one!" Misato sounded overjoyed at the test results.

Asuka's perfect world slowly began to topple. If it were Rei, she wouldn't have cared too much. Admittedly, Rei was always focused, it seemed. But, Ikari? No, that just wasn't possible! It wasn't conceivable, and most of all, it wasn't FAIR!

Even after almost a year, of training in martial arts, Shinji was still the same wimp in Asuka's eyes. Ignoring the slight shape he was developing in on his body, of course. Shinji had indeed changed, but not drastically. He still was a bit socially shy, but he did hang out with his friends more. He even started to put some use to the cell phone that Misato gave him. Of course, it was always either Kensuke or Touji on the other end, but Misato was just happy that he was actually using it.

Shinji had been training with Ryu for a total of ten months. He had gotten down the basic katas, but struggled with the more advanced ones. Ryu has trained him well and was content with Shinji's ever growing progress.

After the sync ratio test, the three pilots left NERV headquarters. Understandably, Asuka departed from her fellow pilots, not wanting to see their faces for the rest of the day. She had a very rough week and it seemed that her past sliced at her psyche every time she felt vulnerable to it. As of late, her vulnerability rate was at an all-time high. She kept trying to tell herself that she was strong enough to not need anyone, but the more she did, the more it seemed like nothing but a meaningless statement.

She returned to Misato's apartment, hoping to find it empty, which see did. At least she had the tranquility of being alone. Of course, being alone meant having more time to think, and having more time to think meant her past could attack her again. She was setting herself up for an emotional roller coaster that would, as it always did, leave her depressed and broken. She then decided to leave, but not before kicking over a nearby chair out of pure frustration. She then left for Hikari's house.

After Asuka departed, Shinji offered to walk Rei home, but she refused. This made Shinji mentally question for her reason behind it as he wandered over to Kensuke's house. He seemed to have a bad habit of dwelling on the small things that occur. He couldn't get his mind off of Asuka being upset, so he decided to find something to do to occupy himself. At that moment he decided to seek out Ryu, as it happened to be almost time for his training. He left for the park.

Later on, Asuka started blankly at the television as she beat her foes to a bloody pulp on Hikari's Guilty Gear X video game. Ever since she had gotten there, all Asuka did was play that stupid game. Of course, she was her best friend and she knew that Asuka was having a hard time, so she easily let that go. Of course, Hikari didn't know the real reason behind her friend's preoccupation. Asuka told her about losing to Shinji, but that was as far as she went.

As Hikari kept her eyes on Asuka, she shifted uncomfortably on the bed. There had to be more to it than just loosing to Shinji Ikari. She could understand the frustration, but this was much too excessive for just a simple loss. Not even Asuka could be _that_ petty. There was something deeper. Something that Asuka wasn't telling anyone. Hikari made it her goal to find out what it was and help her through it.

Another hour went by of Hikari watching Asuka beat the game again. Thankfully, she turned off the game, as Hikari was tired of hearing the patterned sound effects.

_Heaven or Hell? Let's Rock! DESTROYED!_

Normally, Asuka's almost unnatural gaming talent would awe Hikari, but she wasn't in that kind of mood. She was too worried about Asuka to care if she could pull of the instant kill technique before the first ten seconds of the round was over. Of course, in the back of Hikari's mind, she thought that was pretty awesome.

Asuka place the controller back on the floor and asked, "Do you mind if I stay over tonight?"

"Sure," said Hikari.

Asuka asked, "I'm not being an inconvenience am I?"

Hikari shook her head, "Not at all." She then smiled, "I don't mind."

"Focus on the target, Shinji," said Ryu. "Remember that the Senpu Kyaku relies on not strength, but momentum and how well you can balance that momentum. Once you've mastered that, the Tatsumaki Senpu Kyaku will be that much easier to learn."

Shinji nodded. "The concept seemed simple but it was difficult to get his body to follow through. He had already been at this for an hour. When he left Kensuke's house, he never imagined the training would suddenly become this intense. He had advanced far enough to where Ryu could teach him a few techniques. He taught Shinji a great deal of defensive techniques, since defense seemed to be Shinji's strong point. However, to develop him into a well rounded martial artist, the boy needed some offense. Thus, the hellish training of the dreaded Senpu Kyaku, which is Ryu's spinning roundhouse kick.

Ryu tied a thin rope around a can and hung it from a tree. Then, Shinji was to jump into the air, while performing the kick, hit the can accurately and land back on his feet. The problem Shinji had with that was he kept missing the target and he had yet to land on his feet. This proved to be Shinji's longest session yet.

"Senpu Kyaku!" Shinji jumped up and kicked at the can before missing and falling flat onto his behind. "Ow," whined Shinji, "I think I broke my butt."

Ryu extended his hand to him and helped Shinji up for the thirty-second time. "You should know by now that leaning these techniques takes time, Shinji. It can't all come to you at once. You must work for it. Let me give you some advice. Don't concentrate on hitting the can. Concentrate on the can itself."

Shinji blinked with a puzzled expression. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Ryu explained. "Don't look at the can with you eyes. Look at it with your mind. Draw a mental picture and follow through with your body."

Shinji nodded. "Okay. It's worth a try." He closed his eyes. In his mind he pictured an object swinging in the darkness, which soon became the shape of a can. It swung back and forth before Shinji. He positioned himself carefully, lining his body up with the image he had in his mind. Once he successfully did so, he opened his eyes to see the can matched up perfectly to the mental image he had.

"Senpu," Shinji cried out, "KYAKU!" Shinji jumped up into the air, whirling his leg around and kicked the can, but he used too much force and still ended up landing on his butt for the thirty-third time that day.

Ryu helped Shinji up again and said, "See? You're progressing nicely!"

Shinji frowned sourly. "My sore butt seems to have a slightly different opinion."

Ryu chuckled. "Now, now. You can't expect to be good at something without trial and error first, Shinji. Besides, I think that you've gotten a lot better since you first started."

Shinji sighed. "Well, I do feel a lot more in shape that when I first started. I still feel like I'm not doing as well as I could be doing."

"Have you been meditating at home, like I suggested?" Ryu asked.

"Um…not really," said Shinji. "I have to cook most of the time and when I'm not doing that, I'm practicing the cello at school."

Ryu nodded. "I see. Perhaps maybe you should try doing it just before bed or when you first wake up. You need to train your mind as well." He pointed at the can which was still swinging about from Shinji's kick. "That is the result of training your mind, Shinji. Martial arts isn't simply learning how to fight, it's much more than that. It's about learning to make your mind, body and spirit one. Meditation can help both the mind and spirit. It's also a good start to finding your true self. In order to become a good martial artist, it is of the utmost importance to know yourself. Knowing yourself means knowing your limits and knowing your limits means you're that much closer to breaking them. Do you understand?"

Shinji nodded. "I think I get it. So what you're saying is that meditation can help me get up to speed in my training?"

Ryu shook his head. "No. Being 'up to speed' shouldn't be of any concern. Going at your own pace is the best way to go. What I'm saying is that meditation will help you to focus your mind and spirit. As you just experienced, when the mind is focused, the body can easily follow through."

Shinji nodded. "Oh, I see now. So if I meditate regularly, you're saying that concentrating will become easier for me to do?"

Ryu nodded. "Exactly."

Meanwhile, Chun Li left the Commander Ikari's office after a long chat about the functions of her new position. He told her about the importance of it all, but it sounded more or less like babysitting adults. However, if she wanted to get to Bison, she had to put up with it. It was already known to her that he had something to do with the Second Impact, but how it all came to pass was a complete mystery to Interpol. The worst part was that their resources and manpower and been cut drastically due to that. Many people had died, along with her short-time partner, Wallace. That alone was enough to push her forward to finding out what was going on. She thought back to her previous observations of some of the NERV staff. Kaji seemed to be pretty normal, despite being a womanizer. Misato didn't seem the type to be a Shadowloo agent, due to her irresponsible nature, but it could be just an act. Ritsuko raised a little suspicion to Chun Li. It seemed that she was always leaving out details. Then there was the Commander, Gendou Ikari. He OOZED with suspicion.

Chun Li sighed as she walked through the corridors of NERV while thinking these thoughts. She was so occupied that she bumped shoulders with someone.

"Oops. I'm sorry about that," she said as she looked to see the face of the one and only Misato Katsuragi.

Misato smiled, "No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention. Hey, you're the Commander's new assistant, aren't you? Chun Li Dorai, right?"

Chun Li nodded. "Yes, and you're Misato Katsuragi, correct?"

Misato nodded. "Yes, that's right. So, how's work so far?"

Chun Li shook her head, "Tedious, heavy, and troublesome."

Misato chuckled. "Welcome to the club. By the way, are you clocking out anytime soon?"

Chun Li replied, "Thankfully, yes. I was just on my way out. Why do you ask?"

Misato grinned. "Ritsuko, Kaji and I were gonna go out for a drink after work. You're more than welcome to come along, if you like."

Chun Li smiled politely before replying. "I'm sorry, but I'm not much of a drinker. Besides, I think it's better if I went straight home and rested. Perhaps another time."

Misato grabbed her shoulders and shook the poor Interpol agent back and forth. "Oh, come on! It'll be fun. Besides, since we all work together, it's only natural that we get acquainted in a carefree atmosphere. We were all looking forward to finally sit down and chat with the new girl, the amazing Chun Li Dorai!" Misato grinned from ear to ear.

Chun Li raised an eyebrow. "You really know how to lay it on thick, don't you?"

Misato asked, "It that a 'yes'?"

Chun Li smiled a little. "Well, I suppose it will be okay. I'll meet you in the front lobby after I punch out."

Misato chuckled gleefully. "Great! I'll see you then." Misato cheerfully walked off, leaving Chun Li to her thoughts.

At that moment, Chun Li remembered that she wanted to go home early in order to spend time with Ryu. She frowned as her expression turned sour. She thought back to the previous conversation with Misato and how she convinced her to go drinking.

"She…she tricked me! 'Amazing Chun Li Dorai', my foot." She sighed. "I suppose it's too late to complain now. Then again, it's a good opportunity to check things out."

------------------

Asuka had a hard time sleeping. Those horrible thoughts of the past would always attack her the moment she drifted asleep. She hated to sleep because of this, which lead to her occasional nights of insomnia. This happened to be one of those nights. She tried to shake the thoughts away, but staring at the ceiling all night surely wasn't the answer. She needed activity, but she couldn't just flip on the game and wake Hikari up.

After sitting up in bed, she looked down at her slumbering best friend. Asuka knew that she was imposing. She gave it some thought and decided to leave. She just didn't want to bother Hikari with her problems. However, deep inside, Asuka knew that was far from the real reason. It disgusted her to think it, but she was running away; from her past, from those who would help her, even from her true self; the lonely, crying little girl rocking a tattered doll in her arms.

She picked up her school bag from the floor and went to the door. She looked back once and whispered. "Good night, Hikari."

Hikari simply turned over and mumbled incoherently in reply, not even aware of what was going on. The only thing remotely coherent was the word 'Suzahara' which must have been the main theme of whatever dream she was having.

Shortly, the door was closed and Asuka was gone.

Tokyo three was safe from the angels that night. However, devils with the form of humans were lurking about. Devils who had no regard from human live, devils that spent the lives of others without caring, and devils that wouldn't think twice about destroying something precious that belonged to another for the sake of what they consider to be fun.

Needless to say, it was a bad night for a fourteen-year-old girl to be strolling home nonchalantly. It was an even worse night to take a short cut through a rough area where bars and whorehouses were located. Asuka really didn't care at that moment. She was so depressed that it didn't matter anymore. What was the use? She was abandoned, Shinji was the man, Kaji had Misato, and no one needed her anymore. If she got raped or killed, no one would care. If she didn't, still no one would care. No one understood her. No one ever tried. Perhaps death was the answer she sought.

-----------------

Chun Li couldn't believe how much of a lush Misato could be. Slurring all over the place and hanging all over Kaji, despite the fact that she pretends to hate his guts. Of course, Ritsuko did give fair warning that Misato was liable to get plastered.

During the night out, Chun Li did at least get to know everyone a bit better. Misato was a true 'beer bandit', Kaji was a horny philosopher, and Ritsuko happened to be the sanest of the trio. She did have a good time, however. Her and Ritsuko hit it of quite well as they observed Kaji and Misato's interactions with each other, deciding that the two of them needed to get a room and STAY there.

"Cats, you say? I love cats! They're so cute and cuddly," said Chun Li.

Ritsuko nodded. "Yes, they keep me company most of the time. I suppose I'd rather be around cats than a roommate. Less troublesome."

"Laaaa la la la la la….HEY! La la la la! Laaaaa la la la la la…..HEY!" Misato pumped her fistd into the air in a drunken craze as Kaji tried his best to hold her down. They both ended up almost falling to the ground.

Kaji sighed. "I think it's time we called it a night." He looked over to Chun Li and Ritsuko. "It's been fun, ladies, but it looks like this one's down for the count. I'll take her home. I'll see you two at work."

"Try no to take advantage of the situation," said Ritsuko, "Not that Misato would mind or anything."

Kaji chuckled, "No, no. I try to at least stay away from certain dangerous situations. She sleeps like a log, but can like a horse. Ow!"

Misato looked up at him after pinching his leg and slurred, "I herrrd dat Kasssshi….who you callin' a tortoise?" She then promptly passed out.

Kaji shook his head, "This is going to be one long night."

-----------

Asuka wasn't watching where she was going and ended up bumping into someone, causing her to fall. Before she could feel the ground, a pair of strong, yet gentle arms caught her. Asuka, taken by surprised, cried out with a start. She looked up at the face of her savoir to see the prettiest face she had ever laid eyes on. His smile was gentle, he eyes were shining down at her and his mint breath gently hit her face as he spoke.

He asked with much concern in his tone, "Are you all right, little one?"

Asuka was taken by his looks so much that she could only nod in reply. Despite meeting such a handsome man, her mood didn't change. She still felt worthless. Why was this man even paying attention to her? Was this and act so that he could rape and kill her later? She was in a bad area, so that could've very well been the case.

After a few more awkward moments, he invited her inside one of the buildings. Asuka, of course declined. She was feeling worthless, not stupid. Afterward, he offered to take her home, but she convinced him that the most he could do was call a cab for her and not come along for the ride. He simply smiled and agreed to it.

They both waited outside for the cab to arrive and he offered her a bottle of water, which she accepted. After drinking it, they both sat down on a bench outside one of the clubs.

----------------------

Shinji woke up with another bad stomachache. Holding his arms over his stomach, groaned as he shifted around in bed, fighting the pain. A faint blue glow surrounded his body as he cried out in pain.

"_What's happening to me?"_

Shinji managed to muster the power to get out of bed. He stumbled weakly out of his room and out into the living room area. No one was home. Both Misato's and Asuka's room doors were wide open and empty. He had to leave and release the energy somehow. It was tearing him up inside and it didn't seem like it was going to simply go away this time.

It took him an agonizing fifteen minutes to get outside of the apartment complex. He made his way to an open field, which was located in the back of the building. By then, his entire body was surrounded by a bright blue aura. The pain of his stomach had spread out to his arms, legs, and even to his head.

"Master…I can't…no. I mustn't run away. I can't run away…." Shinji closed his eyes. "Remember the training. The training…."

Shinji. In order to channel ki properly, you have to remain calm. Don't hesitate. Don't allow frustrations to take you. Let go of fear and never loose yourself. In order to move ki, simply imagine it flowing to a single part of your body. Concentrate, then once gathered, release it the best way you can."

"Let it gather," Shinji told himself. He took deep breaths to help calm himself as he followed the instructions left to him by Ryu. Soon, the blue glow slowly, but surely made its way to his right leg. By the time it was all transferred to his leg, the power it possessed was almost too much for Shinji to remain standing.

"I've got it now." Shinji smirked at his accomplishment. "And now to release. He picked up a rock, which was about the size of a baseball and tossed it into the air. He patiently waited for the right moment, then sprung into action.

"SENPU KYAKU!" Shinji cried as his utilized he special move taught to him by Ryu to unleash his hoard of ki onto the poor rock that shattered into dust at the moment of impact. Also, due to the amount of energy used, a small explosion occurred in the open field, with Shinji at the center of it. The blast along with the high output of ki, left Shinji unconscious.

As he lay on the ground, a female figure from afar smiled down at him with intrigue. A giggle escaped her lips as she turned away, letting her long bandana tails blow in the wind behind her.

"Very interesting," she said.

---------------

Asuka kept looking down at the ground. She looked over at the pretty man and then quickly looked back at the ground when she saw him looking back at her. "Thanks for helping me tonight."

The man chuckled. "No need for thanks. Being in your company is thanks enough."

Asuka frowned. "Knock it off, buster. I'm jailbait."

He shook his head. "I'm no pervert, if that's what you're aiming at. I'm actually a Spanish bullfighter."

Asuka retorted. "Well, that certainly doesn't explain you being in a sleazy district like this. Sure you didn't mean Bull_shitter_?"

The man shook his head. "It's true. However, I could ask the same of you? Why is such a beautiful girl your age at such a place at this time of night?"

"I'm on my way home from a friend's house," said Asuka.

He smirked. "Now who's bullshitting who? You sound like I'm about to arrest you for violating a curfew."

Asuka groaned. "Oh, be quiet. Anyway, it's the truth. I left because…well, I guess I didn't want to burden her with my problems. It's as if my world's crashing down all around me and I feel like crap. Hell, I'm even considering suicide. Kinda funny, right?"

The man shook his head. "You're wrong. True beauty has every right to be here, in this world. Things that would dare to hinder such beauty….must be crushed."

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

The man sighed. "I suppose that was a bit confusing for a young one like yourself. First, tell me what is bothering you."

Asuka replied, "Well, let's just say I have really bad family issues. I can hardly sleep because my past keeps haunting me. I live with a lush and a complete wimp and they drive me nuts! The worst part is that damn wimpy Shinji is becoming better than me at the one thing I the very best at! Stupid Ikari! And if that isn't enough, no one seems to understand how of feel, let alone give a damn."

The man nodded. "That is indeed a problem."

Just then the taxi pulled up in front of the curb before them. Asuka sighed. It was a long night for her. She stood up and looked back at the handsome man. "Thanks for everything. I feel a little bit better. I don't know why I suddenly opened up to a complete stranger, but I feel a little more at ease."

He smiled back at her. "Sometimes a little venting is all it takes. By the way, take this." He handed her a flyer with his picture on it. On the back, there was phone number. "I know you're skeptical of strangers, so I won't ask for yours. Just give me a call if you ever feel the need to. Until then, take care of yourself, priceless one."

Asuka hurriedly said, "Wait! You never told me your name!"

He smiled. "If you ever call that number, be sure to ask for Vega."

That was the last thing he said to her before walking away. And despite the fact that the last think of him she saw was his back, his face would remain in her mind for a long while after.

Moments later, Vega was on his cell phone. "Yes, master, I believe we may have a lead. Sources say that Ryu is currently training a boy here in Tokyo-3 by the name of Shinji Ikari. I've found a girl who happens to live with him. Yes." Vega smiled as he said, "I simply gave her a bottle of my special truth water. She'll come back to me with more information soon. Yes, I will keep you informed."

Vega flipped his phone back up and put it in his back pocket. He smirked. "You will be of great use…..my priceless one."

--------------

As Chun Li parted company with Ritsuko and the others, she headed toward home. She didn't bother catching a cab, as she didn't mind walking. It was about a twenty-minute walk home and the first ten were pretty quiet. However, as she passed by a bust stop, she saw a familiar face.

She gasped. "Ken? Ken, it's really you! Where have you been?"

Ken smirked as he walked over to his long time friend. "Greetings, Chun Li Dorai."

Before she knew it, Chun Li found herself being knocked over into a pair of nearby garbage cans by a quick sidekick to her stomach. Her eyes narrowed. That's when she noticed.

Upon Ken's forehead was a triangular microchip. It was a Shadoloo cyber chip, the very same kind that Bison used on her and Ryu a long time ago. Ken was under Bison's control and this meant that Ken was infused with Psycho Power along with Hadou. This would be a brutal fight.

Chun Li attempted to reason with him. It was worth a try. "Ken! You have to snap out of it! Don't let Bison control you!"

Ken's response began with his hands being cupped, as a familiar blue light illuminated around his palms. His eyes were narrowed and his face was solid. He was obviously playing for keeps.

"HADOKEN!"

_To be continued_


	5. Webs of Deception

To Find Inner Strength

Chapter 5: Webs of Deception 

His expression was solid and cold as he cupped his hands. Between his palms, a small and radiant orb of light gathered from what looked like electricity, which surged through his hands. With each moment the orb grew larger and brighter as it fed from the sparks of light that ran violently through the hands of Ken Masters. His eyes took on a faint glow of violet as he unleashed his glowing blue orb of energy at his long time friend.

"HADOKEN!"

Chun Li, at the very last second, snapped herself out of her trance of disbelief and managed to dive clear of the destructive projectile. She didn't have to look back to know that if she hadn't moved in time, there wouldn't be a body to discover. The explosion explained that much by itself. She didn't deem it wise to turn her attention away from Ken, either. Telling by the cyber chip on his forehead and the emotionless glare of his eyes, one reckless move could easily land her in a pine box.

"I see that there's no reasoning with you," said Chun Li as she regained her composure, "All right, then I have no choice but to take you down, Ken."

Masters had no verbal apply and reinforced that fact by rushing in at Chun Li with a barrage of kick attacks, which she found difficult to keep up with.

Chun Li found herself being pushed back by Ken, but also, her defenses were being weakened at the same time. Each one of Ken's kicks produced a violet spark of energy that added an unknown, but heavy force to his attacks. Before Chun Li knew it, her guard was broken and a hard kick was delivered to her ribs. She could clearly hear a snapping sound before her body was knocked into a brick wall. She managed to catch herself with her hands before impact and rebound herself back at Ken. In the same instant, she flipped her body upside down in mid-air and split her legs while spinning rapidly at her opponent.

"Spinning Bird Kick!"

Unfortunately, Ken was well prepared for this attack. As Chun Li's rapid combination darted toward him, he only had half a second to crouch down under Chun Li's signature kick.

Chun Li only had a split second to see her folly, but had even less time to regret, or brace for the impact. The last thing she saw before her world went black was Ken rising up from the ground with what looked like flames dancing around his fist.

"SHORYUKEN!"

------------------------

Shinji's eyes slowly opened to see the ceiling of what looked like an infirmary. It was becoming a really annoying habit. Has he settled into his surroundings, he caught the sound of a girl's voice reciting something that sounded like a rap song.

"Let's get it on now, select and make your first pick, let's get it on now, ten, nine, eight seven six. Let's get it on now, select and choose the best one, let's get it on now, five four three, two one…"

Shinji sat up in the infirmary bed and turned to his left to see a girl about his age with a sailor school uniform on and a white headband that reminded him of Ryu's. "Excuse me, who are you?"

The girl stopped and mid-song and addressed Shinji. "Well, I'm the one who dragged you all the way over here. You were K.O.'d in a lot behind some apartment complex. I'm Sakura Kasugano. Nice to meet ya!"

Shinji replied. "Thanks for your help. I'm Shinji. Shinji Ikari."

"Hey," said Sakura, "Can you show me how you did that?"

Shinji blinked quizzically. "How I did what?"

Sakura stood up and approached his bed with what looked like stars in her eyes. "Ya know, that glowing power aura and the spinning kick and the big KA-BOOM at the end!"

Shinji, at this point, was intimidated at how weird this girl seemed. "Uh, well…I really don't know." He decided to play dumb. "It just kinda happened, I guess. You'd have to ask my master, Ryu, about that."

Shinji would realize a moment later that he had spoken the secret word. Sakura seemingly followed Pee-wee's house rules on secret words. That would be the reason Shinji would be going home with his ear ringing.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" Sakura screamed as she grabbed Shinji by his shoulders while shaking him violently. "Ryu? You mean THE Ryu? You mean the travels in a white karate gi with no shoes, beats up bad guys without breaking a sweat, anti-social, wondering off at any given time, muscle bound, ultimate street fighter of justice?! THAT Ryu?!"

"Uh…I guess," Shinji's eyes wandered to the other side of the room in order to avoid Sakura's star struck gaze. "Anyway, how do you know about him?" Shinji couldn't help but ponder such a thing. How did such a hyperactive girl cross paths with Ryu?

Sakura started as she moved her chair closer to his bed, "Well, it's kind of a short story. See, my friend, Mizuki, and me went shopping at the mall one day. When we were leaving, there was a shoot out between some terrorists and the police. Rumor has it that these are international terrorists who wanna rule the world. That's the Internet buzz, anyway. Anyway, when we saw it at first, we thought it was a movie shoot, so I ran to get a closer look……

Flashback 

"_Sakura, wait!" Mizuki cried in vain as her best friend ran into the commotion. _

_Sakura looked backed at Mizuki and shouted, "What's that, Mizuki? I can't hear you! Oof!" The girl slammed into something hard, like a wall or something. Of course, when she laid her eyes on what she ran into, it wasn't a wall at all. It was a huge muscular man with a bald head and an eye patch. _

_He looked down at the girl with a menacing gleam in his eye. "Pitiful insect!" With an effortless sidekick to the stomach, he knocked the schoolgirl back a good ten feet before she touched the ground and sprawled violently into someone's arms._

"_Sakura!" Mizuki called out to her friend as she dashed over to her and the man who had saved her. "Sakura…"_

_Sakura was too weakened from the blow to speak many words. Her savior looked down at her and smiled. "Everything's gonna be okay." He looked over to Mizuki and asked, "Could you take her to a hospital? A kick from a Muy Thai fighter isn't something that most normal people can simply walk off."_

_Mizuki nodded slowly. "I understand. By the way, what's you name, sir?"_

_The man stood to his feet and replied, "Ryu." He then walked over to the Muy Thai fighter who had knocked Sakura down._

"_Sakura, let's get out of here. It's dangerous." Mizuki slowly helped her friend up._

"_Wait." Sakura weakly lifted her head and looked toward Ryu's fight. "Lemme watch him…that bald jerk…get him…Ryu…" Sakura watched the fight and paid all her attention to it. Ryu's movements, his reactions, even the looks on his face. When Ryu delivered the final blow, a look of astonishment took over Sakura's face. She had watched boxing matches, kickboxing matches, and even UFC matches, but she had never seen such a powerful uppercut in her life. Ryu's feet actually left the ground while pulling it off._

She repeated Ryu's words. "Shoryuken, huh?" 

_End Flashback_

Shinji's eyes were wide at this point. "Wow, that's pretty unique way to meet someone."

As the pair continued to discuss their encounters with Ryu, a pair of sharp eyes watched them from an adjacent building through a pair of binoculars.

"Target acquired. Shinji Ikarai, age fourteen. Occupation: Student, Pilot of Evangelion Unit 01. Currently in custody of one Captain Misato Katsuragi of NERV. Proceed?"

The binoculars lowered, showing the face of a blonde woman in a red beret. She wore a green body suit that exposed her well-toned legs and on the left breast of her top, there was a sliver insignia of a skull with wings. In her wrist, there was a silver watch that doubled as a communicating device, which she spoke into with the confirmation of her target.

"Yes, proceed. Bring the boy me," said the voice from the wrist communicator.

"Affirmative. Agent Killer Bee 1 out." She cut off the device before proceeding over to the hospital building, along with a brunette with a similar uniform in dark blue.

Meanwhile, Chun Li finally regained her consciousness and also gained a big headache. She still could feel the impact from Ken's signature attack. Her vision was blurred at first, but slowly, the focus came and revealed her to be in an empty supply room. She was strapped to a mattress and was stripped down to her underwear. Fortunately, she wasn't in the state of mind to panic just yet. Her first plan of action was to get herself out of bondage and then find some clothes. However, before she could put her plan into action, the door before her swung open.

A huge, coffee skinned man with short cut hair and a white business suit stood there with a dangerously lustful look on his face. He grinned cockily at her. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Chun Li Dorai of Interpol. Man, oh, man, if your daddy were alive to see this, he'd be so ashamed. Imagine a prideful lead detective of Interpol like you, lowering herself to having relations with Shadowlaw members. For shame!"

Chun Li spat, "Balrog, you'd better not be thinking of doing anything stupid. Otherwise, I just may forget who I am and terminate a suspect before bringing him in."

Balrog smirked as he sat down on the side of the mattress, taking off his suit jacket. "Funny thing about that. See, the drug Vega actually makes it so you can't do such a thing. In fact, it intensifies your sense of touch by 10 times. So basically, your nerves are becoming so sensitive that soon, you'll be unable to move without being effected. Just rubbing up against something will be too much for you."

Chun Li's eyes narrowed. "You're a sick bastard, you know that?"

Balrog chuckled. "I could care less about what your mouth says. Your body is about to be MINE." He proved his point buy running his finger up and down her thigh.

"Ugh..st…stop…" Chun Li tried to resist, but with the drug making its way through her system, she couldn't put up a good fight. Her senses were going crazy and an unwanted feeling of lust started to surface. However, her mind was still strong and resisting every bit of it. "Get….off!"

Balrog laughed heartily. "Then, why don't you make me?" He continued to move his hand further up her thigh and between her legs. Balrog could already imagine how great this experience was going to be.

Chun Li couldn't put up the fight too much longer. Vega's drug produced a sensation that slowly melted away her senses. She couldn't let this happened, but then again, it was overwhelmingly pleasurable. "I….refuse…to let you! Ah…no…ahh..hh!"

"Yeah, bitch. You know you can't resist. Vega's drugs are the best! No women can fight it off!" Balrog's smile was victorious. He was going to shame the strongest woman in the world. Or so he thought.

The door kicked open just at that second and a single shot was fired. The next thing Balrog knew, there was a hole in his leg. He screamed in agony as he fell onto his knees. He then felt cold steel pressed against the back of his head.

"Now, now, no naughty business without the lady's permission," Kaji smiled. "You probably don't get it, so I'll let you sleep on it." That said, he pistol whipped Balrog in the head, knocking him out cold. Kaji then greeted Chun Li with a smile.

"I appreciate the assistance, but could you PLEASE stop staring and untie me?" Chun Li huffed as he face turned red with both embarrassment and frustration.

Kaji asked, "What was that you said? A date tomorrow night? I'd be honored."

Chun Li sighed. "Fine, you win. Just untie me!"

Kaji smiled as he put his gun away and untied her. "Your wish is my command."

Chun Li added. "If you don't stop looking at my cleavage, it'll be the last thing you ever see."

Kaji grinned. "Promise?" That earned him a well-placed punch in the stomach. "Ow."

After Kaji recovered from Chun Li's punch, he carried her out of the cabin toward his car, where Misato was sound asleep in the backseat, snoring her head off. However, a man in a red karate gi stood between Kaji and Chun Li, and the car. He had the same emotionless face Chun Li remembered.

"Kaji, put me down. I have to handle this," said Chun Li.

Kaji shook his head. "No way. You still have those drugs in your system, you're in no condition to fight."

Ken grew impatient, as he was already charging up his ki into his cupped hands. He eyes gleamed with a crimson glow before he fired off his Hadoken attack directly at Kaji and Chun Li.

Kaji quickly, turned his back, determined to take the impact of the blast to protect Chun Li, but the impact was never felt. Chun Li looked up to see what happened and her face lit up at what she saw. The attack had been deflected by another ki attack.

Ken's eyes narrowed as he looked at the all too familiar form standing before him.

"Long time, no see….eh, Ken? Looks like Bison got to you, just like he did to Chun Li a couple years back." He got into a fighting stance. "I'll bring you back to your senses, but it's gonna hurt. A lot. Prepare yourself!" Guile jumped back, charging his ki once again.

"SONIC BOOM!"

Meanwhile, in the hospital room, Shinji and Sakura continued to talk until the lights suddenly went out.

Sakura looked all around. "What's with the sudden black out? Did a generator blow or something?"

Shinji shrugged. "I'm not really sure."

Just then the window shattered as a brunette woman with a blue uniform came crashing through it. A second later, the door of the room came cashing down as a blonde with a green uniform entered the room.

They both simultaneously stated their business, "Shinji Ikari, come quietly and you will not be harmed."

Sakura got into a fighting stance and said, "Looks like I get some more practice before I see Ryu again!"

Shinji stated, "They just want me. I'll do what they say so no one gets hurt."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right? Do you really think that people who crash through windows and break down doors just to get to you mean no harm?"

Shinji thought about it for a second. "Hmm. Good point." He stood up from the bed and said, "We need to find a way outta here!"

"Resistance is futile, " said the blonde.

Sakura said, "We've got no choice but to fight, both exits are blocked!"

Shinji gulped. "I-I don't know if I can fight…"

Sakura frowned. "You trained with Ryu. You're his student, aren't you? Shinji Ikari, if you back down from this fight...I'll never forgive you!"

Shinji then began to remember when Ryu offered his headband to him as a promise to never run away, to never fear again. He was still afraid. He wanted to run away but couldn't. The easiest thing to do was to cooperate, even though wasn't to protect Sakura, it was to protect himself. He wanted to think everything would be all right if he surrendered. He lowered his head, frustrated and confused. His hands balled up into a fist as voices from his memories sounded through his mind.

_Misato's voice told him, "You musn't run away, Shinji."_

_Asuka's voice questioned him, "Are you stupid?"_

_Gendo's voice demanded, "If you're going to do it, do it now. If not, then leave."_

_Sakura's voice sounded off, "If you back down from this fight, I'll never forgive you."_

"I mustn't," said Shinji. "I musn't run away…I musn't run away…I musn't run away! YAHH….Senpu Kyaku!" Shinji whirled his leg around kicking the brunette's face and sent her to the floor.

Sakura followed up with an uppercut to the blonde, which caught her off guard, giving them the chance to head out of the door. "C'mon, Shinji! Let's blow this joint!"

Shinji nodded and followed behind, but then stopped for a second. "Hey…my clothes…"

Sakura grabbed his hand and pulled him along, "Worry about that later, sheesh!"

The duo finally made it outside without any interception from their pursuers. However, the outside seemed to be flooded with brunettes who looked exactly the same as the two women who had been after them. They all spoke in unison, "Shinji Ikari, come along quietly and you will not be harmed."

Sakura did a double take and then glared at Shinji. "Okay, who the hell did you manage to piss off THIS much?"

_To be Continued…_


End file.
